The Real Killer
The Real Killer is the second episode of season one and 2nd overall episode of The Catch. Short Summary Alice and the team take on a very public client, a husband who was wrongly imprisoned for murdering his wife. Alice, however, is distracted with a mission of her own: track down Ben and figure out his next move. Meanwhile, Ben, Margot and Reggie are in desperate need of cash since Alice foiled their last plan, and the three con artists set their sights on a new target. Full Summary Flashback. Alice and Ben are on their first date and he has some questions for her. She's not used to being asked questions. Everybody's busy with themselves and if they do seem interested, it's usually because they want something. He says that he's interested. Flashes to the later that evening. They end up having sex at her house. Back in the restaurant, he asks her if it's work all day every day for her. She says it is, but she makes time for what's important. She asks about his company. He says he takes people's money for a living. Alice wakes up from her bad dream and stares angrily at the painting. Sophie is at Alice's house. Alice says Sophie is her lawyer now, meaning she can't tell anyone. They enter the bedroom and Alice shows her the painting. Sophie recognizes it and wonders how it got here. Alice thinks it was Christopher. She thinks it means that he's messing with her. Sophie says it could also mean that it was real and that he really loved her. Alice denies that. This is not love, this a $12 million painting she was hired to protect. She thinks she should call the police, but Sophie advises her to wait until after they've done some recon. Also, Jeffrey Bloom is coming in at 10. Alice is not looking forward to a meeting with a murderer. Sophie reminds her that the jury acquitted him, but Alice says that only happened because the jury threw out the cell tower evidence. She is sure that Jeffrey didn't love Edith Rockwell, he was just in it for the money, like Christopher. Sophie wonders if Alice should come in today, but Alice says she'll see her at the office. Alice is on the phone with Danny. She's late, but she asks if the museum called. He says no, because everybody is watching Jeffrey's victory lap on all the morning shows. Alice can't believe they acquitted him. She says she'll be in soon. She pulls out of her driveway and drives off, and unbeknownst to her, Jules Dao is following her. Alice enters the museum and two security guard pass her. She's surprised to find out that the painting is still hanging there. Ben is at a jewelry store, picking out earrings to tell someone he's sorry. He's not sure the ones he's looking at send that message. The saleswoman says she'll go see what they have in the vault. While she's away, he goes to talk to other customers and steals a wallet, a bracelet, and a present in the process. Back in the hotel room, Ben, Margot, and Reggie gather their booty on the table. Margot hates that even at this point in their careers, they're reduced to larceny. It gives her bad flashbacks to a misspent youth. Reggie admits he's missed this, but Margot says they have a benefactor to pay now and an new operation to bankroll. They're going to con a grieving Kuroqi princess who's in L.A. to shop to make herself feel better after her father's death. Reggie's going to pose as Joseph Riley, a managing principle broker for Brandeis Properties, and Margot will be Stella Winters, an investor. Ben can't participate, because Alice and her team are looking for him. He has to leave for Shanghai today and they will join him in a month. At AVI, Alice prints a bunch of research about the Maria Kreyn painting. She tells Sophie she went to the museum and that the painting is there. She wants Sophie to find out if there are markers to tell a real Maria Kreyn from a fake. Valerie comes over and asks what's going on, but the receptionist informs her that Gordon's calling for her. Valerie says she'll see him in hell. Alice says Valerie will call him right back. Valerie says he didn't show for mediation. The team watches an interview with Jeffrey Bloom. He says he'll never be free as long as Edith's killer is still out there. Valerie thinks it's impressive he dares to admit his love for Edith in front of his new wife, Rebecca. Alice hopes she's not next on his hit list. She says lack of evidence doesn't mean he didn't do it. He had the means and the motive, but Danny points out he had an airtight alibi. Witnesses saw him at the opera that night. Alice thinks he could've left during opera and then come back. Sophie says Rebecca, an award-winning journalist, is convinced that Jeffrey's innocent, so she tends to believe in his innocence. Alice points out she almost married Christopher. She's suspicious of charming sociopaths. Valerie tells her to stop talking, because Jeffrey has arrived. Valerie and Alice are meeting with Jeffrey and Rebecca in the conference room. Rebecca assumed Jeffrey was guilty when she met with him for the magazine, but she kept finding holes in the prosecution's case. She fell in love. She married him while he was still in prison. She spent all her time trying to get him out. Jeffrey says it's thanks to her that he's free now. Rebecca says they're still getting harrassed. She wants to find out who really killed Edith so the threats will stop. Privately, Valerie asks Alice to be objective. She understands that Alice isn't after what happened, but maybe she should take time off. Alice refuses that. Christopher lied to her for a year and she's supposed to be good at this. She needs to know that she still is. She looks at Jeffrey and Rebecca and announces they're taking the case. The team has gathered in the conference room so Danny can present the case. Jeffrey came to L.A. 8 years ago to become a print model, meaning he mostly waited tables and taught spin classes, which is how he met fashion designer Edith Rockwell, who was 40 years older than him. That was a red flag for Edith's son Payton. Payton's alibi is Tracy Lassin, a bartender. Danny's at the bar, where Tracy confirms Payton stayed that night until last call. She remembers him because he didn't look at her like all the other college boys (and Danny) do. All he wanted was to talk about his mother. Valerie asks what Payton said. Sophie tried to contact him, but she hasn't heard back. Danny went to visit him, but he's not talking to anyone. Valerie says they'll start a new investigation from scratch. They'll look at everyone who might have something to gain from Edith's death. Whoever did it, tried to make it look like a robbery. She was strangled, there were signs of a break-in, and her jewelry went missing. They can visit the crime scene since it's now owned by Jeffrey. Danny and Alice are Jeffrey's house. Jeffrey says they find Edith at the bottom of the staircase, strangled with one of her own scarfs. He seems emotional. Alice says he doesn't have to be here for this, but he says he's okay. It's just that he hasn't been here since it happened. They go upstairs. They enter Payton's room. Edith kept it like he left it so he'd know he always had a place to come back to. Alice asks why she cut him out of her will, then. Rebecca urges Jeffrey to tell them. Jeffrey says Payton was a good kid, but he started skipping classes and doing drugs. He started to spend all her money, and she thought she'd cut him off, but that only made things worse. Payton threatened Edith on the night of the murder. He told her that she'd regret it if she chose Jeffrey over him. Jeffrey says it was just an argument. He left after he said those things, and Edith was so upset that she decided not to join him to the opera. Rebecca thinks that Payton did it. He'd been drinking, so she figured he snapped. There's no other version of this story that makes sense. Except for the one that put Jeffrey in prison. Margot gives Ben cash money and a new passport. They'll see each other again in 30 days. He suggests to stay here, but she says it's time to become a ghost. Ben notices that Reggie's watching and he assures him he's packed. Ben asks about the princess, but Reggie tells him not to concern himself with it. Reggie tells him to go straight to the airport. Ben leaves the hotel room. While walking to the office, Alice tells Danny that there were no photos with Payton in the house. Jules Dao is watching them from his car. Danny reveals he took a tablet from Payton's room at the house. There are photos of him on there. She thinks finding the jewels will help them find the killer. She notices the car and sends Danny inside with the tablet. As Alice walks up to car, Ben is revealed to be watching her from across the street. Alice knocks on Dao's window. He lowers it for her as a car parks in front of Ben. It's Reggie. He gets out and tells Ben he needs to go now. Alice won't forgive him for what he did. Dao gets out of his car. Ben and Reggie duck behind Reggie's car. Reggie wonders why Interpol is there. Ben thinks he must have traced hits on her clients. Reggie doesn't want to leave L.A., and Ben says he's not either. Dao will have his men all over LA X, so they can't leave. They need to tell Margot. They get in their car and drive off. Alice knows that Dao's been tailing her since this morning. She asks if she's a suspect. Dao says he's finally figured out why she's not helping him. He knows she was engaged to the man he's been chasing for two years. He shows her a picture of a disguised Ben standing behind her at the drop. Dao says that this man stole money from her clients, so it looks like they were in it together. Alice wants to call Dao's supervisor to find out if he's surprised to hear that Dao's been following her all day. Dao has no problem with that. He's sure they'll be meeting again soon. He gets back in his car and leaves. Back in her office, Alice opens her laptop and starts looking at photos of her and Ben, with him constantly hiding his face. Flashback. Ben and Alice are naked in bed. She's talking about her family. He says his parents died of cancer and that his older brother died in a sailboat accident when they were kids. She says she's sorry for him. He apologizes since it's not first date material. She says it's okay. She wants to know everything. Reggie and Ben are back at the hotel. Ben says he's going to tell Margot that he saw Dao at LA X. Reggie mentions Ben must trust that he won't tell Margot about Alice. Ben says he'll tell Margot about Alice himself. He's in love with her. He didn't mean for it to happen. Reggie says feelings change. Love's a drug. He will be Ben's sponsor so Alice can stay alive. Margot will kill her if she finds out. Valerie checks in on Alice. Alice wants to talk to Payton. She notices Gordon is still reaching out to Valerie and tells her to talk to Gordon. Valerie says she hired a mediator so they can talk, but she thinks Gordon has nothing to say since he failed to show up. Danny and Sophie walk in. They found photos of Payton and his friends at a beach house. One of the girls on there is Tracy the bartender, whom Payton's kissing in one photo. This means she might have been covering for him, meaning he has no alibi. Alice is at Payton's house. He asks her to move her car since it's blocking him in. She says she's a PI looking into Edith's murder. She wants to find out the truth. He thinks she's just looking to get paid, like Jeffrey was. He gets in his car and uses it to move her car. Alice can jump out of the way just in time as he drives off. Ben has just told Margot about Dao. That's bad news, considering that they planned on following the princess to New York if she doesn't like L.A. Margot reminds Ben that the princess is not the mark. The mark is Qasim Halabi, the princess' guardian, who became the head of Al-Salim family's business empire when the king died. Ben says he'll get to the princess to convince her to stay in L.A. Reggie and Margot watch as the princess and her crew arrive. Margot knows that Zara spent $6 million on her last shopping trip in L.A. Reggie walks up to Qasim and introduces himself as Joseph Reilly from Brandeis Properties in Arabic. He says he'd love to show him a property. Meanwhile, Ben arrives in a car that draws Zara's attention. She cautiously approaches and says her father had a car just like this one. She says he passed away recently. Ben asks if her father ever let her drive the car. She says women are not encouraged to drive in her country, since it "makes them vulnerable to sin". He gives her the keys. She smiles and they get in the car. Meanwhile, Margot joins in on Reggie's conversation. She poses as Stella Winters, another invester. The car leaves and Qasim yells after Zara. Alice is watching Payton's photos. Danny comes in and says he found the beach house. It belonged to Edith's grandparents. It's rental property now, as well as the only place where no one's looked. Sophie comes in and Danny feels it's time to leave. Sophie closes the door. She says Maria Crane always paints to the edges of her canvas, and a forger can only copy the part that's not hidden by the frame. So, if there's a blank border, it's a forgery. Back at her house, Alice checks the painting. There is no blank border, meaning it's the real one. The museum has no idea. Sophie asks if she's going to tell Valerie. Alice says she really should. She wants to find the artist who forged the painting and use him to get to Christopher. Sophie won't talk her out of it, nor will she tell Valerie. Ben and Zara are walking. Zara confesses that her father taught her to drive, so she's a good driver. Her father was a wise man. They say loss is supposed to get easier, but she doesn't know if she wants that. He understands. He says he's lost somebody, but it doesn't compare to hers. Zara figures out it's about a woman. He says it ended because he wasn't brave enough. Zara says there's still time then. He asks her how long she's staying. She says she is supposed to leave for New York tomorrow, but she's come to like Los Angeles. He smiles. Danny and Alice are at the beach house. Alice thinks Payton didn't do it since he was already out of his mother's will. Alice tells Danny to start with the house while she goes to look at the grounds. In the space underneath the house, Alice steps into some oil. She starts looking in a kayak that she saw on one of the photos. She finds the jewels hidden in the first aid kit. Danny comes over and Alice tells him it was Payton all along. She was wrong about all of it. Margot finds Ben shaving. She's glad he's not Shangai. She takes the razor and starts shaving him. She says they've always been adult about their job, even when they had to be with other people. She admits she was jealous of Alice and their life together. Margot says they can disappear and settle down. Ben doesn't think they'd last. Margot is glad to hear that. She feared that Alice had ruined him. Valerie tells Alice that Payton's on the run. Alice solved the case that no one else was able to. Alice thinks she should take time off after all, but Valerie disagrees. Alice thinks she may be able to find something at Edith's that'll lead them to Payton. Sophie informs Alice that she's found the forger. She figured it had be someone local because there was only a few days between her showing the painting and the day it was on her wall. After a little blackmail, the forger was very helpful and gave up the name of her client: Julian Marsh. Sophie cross-referenced it with Christopher Hall and she find an obituary for Christopher Ryan Hall. He died the same week Alice met Christopher. There's a pattern: obituaries, no surviving family, tragic backstories, and all posted in the New York Tribune. She already started looking for similar obits. Alice gets on the elevator and announces she's not letting Payton get away. Alice arrives at Edith's house. There's no one home. She notices she left a footprint because of the oil she stepped in earlier and takes off her shoes. She goes upstairs to Payton's room. As she's looking through his stuff, she hears the door. She takes a baseball bat as someone approaches. It's Jeffrey. She apologizes. She thought it might be Payton. He saw her car out front. She says the police asked them to find something that could lead them to Payton. She says she'll come back later, but he says she can stay. He'll do anything to finally bring some justice to Edith. As she ducks to open a drawer, she notices oil on his shoes. She tells him he might want to take off his shoes or he'll ruin the carpet. She wants to leave, but he blocks her. He knows that she knows he killed Edith and stole the jewels to make it look like a robbery. He planted the jewels in the kayak and used Rebecca to get out of jail. He basically gave her Payton's iPad so she'd have everything to frame Payton for him. Jeffrey says that even if he did all that, he can't be tried for the same crime after acquittal. He threateningly approaches her and says he'd have to kill somebody else. Rebecca appears in the doorway. Jeffrey says Alice was just leaving. As Rebecca and Jeffrey are loudly arguing upstairs, Alice calls Danny to send security guards to the Rockwell mansion. There's a loud thud and Alice goes back inside. Jeffrey's lying at the bottom of the stairs in a pool of blood. Rebecca stands on the stairs with a bloody bat in her hand and blood all over her. Rebecca says that Jeffrey killed Edith for the money. She gave Jeffrey her career and her reputation. She starts crying. Valerie gives Alice a drink. She was right after all. Valerie apologizes for second guessing her. Alice admits she made it all about Christopher. She still wants to find him. Valerie wonders what then. Rebecca's lawyer may argue self defense, but her life is over. Valerie won't let Alice go down that road. Valerie gets a call from Gordon. Alice says he made one mistake in 10 years, and he told her about it. Valerie says he doesn't get points for telling her. She admits she misses Gordon. Alice knows what she means. She misses someone who doesn't exist. Flashback. The morning after their first date, Ben's reading the obits in Alice's bed. He says he likes to know how people's stories end. She smiles and they share a kiss. Alice asks Sophie to do something for her with the obits. Sophie enters Alice's office and says she found the perfect dead guy, who is exactly Christopher's type: Michael Thorne. She gives Alice the report of the medical examiner. Alice says she'll place the obit in the Trib, and if Christopher bites, he'll use Michael's social security number to open up credit cards, which Sophie will track. Then they have him. Back at her house, Alice is looking out the window as she's holding the medical examiner's report. The doorbell rings. It's Dao. He says he comes in peace. He wants to apologize. She's no longer a suspect in the investigation. She says according to his supervisor, she was never a suspect in the investigation. He says she was a lead, so it's only logical that he followed it. He thinks she'd understand that if she really wanted him to catch this guy. She wishes him a good night and closes the door. She then goes to grab her phone and makes the call to place the obit. Dao returns to his car and puts in earphones. He's listening in on Alice's conversation through a bug he just placed. At the hotel, Ben notices the obit as Zara joins him for tea. She says it's raining in New York, so it's nicer here. She sits down and he notices her staff. She says she should have told him yesterday, but it tends to complicate things. She says she's Princess Zara Al-Salim from Kuroq. She asks who he is. He says he's Michael Thorne. In her office, Alice smiles as she reads the obit in the Tribune. Cast 1x02AliceVaughan.png|Alice Vaughan 1x02BenjaminJones.png|Benjamin Jones 1x02ReginaldLennox.png|Reginald Lennox III 1x02DannyYoon.png|Danny Yoon 1x02JulesDao.png|Jules Dao 1x02ValerieAnderson.png|Valerie Anderson 1x02MargotBishop.png|Margot Bishop 1x02SophieNovak.png|Sophie Novak 1x02RebeccaBloom.png|Rebecca Bloom 1x02JeffreyBloom.png|Jeffrey Bloom 1x02QasimHalabi.png|Qasim Halabi 1x02ZaraAlSalim.png|Princess Zara Al-Salim 1x02Robin.png|Robin 1x02PaytonRockwell.png|Payton Rockwell 1x02TracyLassin.png|Tracy Lassin 1x02NewsAnchor.png|News Anchor 1x02TammiIngram.png|Tammy Ingram (left) 1x02Saleswoman.png|Saleswoman 1x02BeverlyHillsWife.png|Beverly Hills Wife 1x02MaleShopper.png Main Cast *Mireille Enos as Alice Vaughan *Peter Krause as Benjamin Jones *Alimi Ballard as Reginald Lennox III *Jay Hayden as Danny Yoon *Jacky Ido as Jules Dao *Rose Rollins as Valerie Anderson *Sonya Walger as Margot Bishop *Elvy Yost as Sophie Novak Guest Stars *Christine Woods as Rebecca Bloom *Adan Canto as Jeffrey Bloom *Navid Negahban as Qasim Halabi *Medalion Rahimi as Princess Zara Al-Salim Co-Starring *Nicole Pettis as Robin *Greg Audino as Payton Rockwell *Annabelle Borke as Tracy Lassin *Jay Jackson as News Anchor *Jamie Tompkins as Tammi Ingram *Nicola Lambo as Saleswoman *Claire Chapelli as Beverly Hills Wife *Jared Egusa as Male Shopper Cons and Cases Alice Vaughan Alice enlisted Sophie as her lawyer and showed her the painting Ben had left in her bedroom. She went to the museum and found the painting still there and asked Sophie to find out if there were any markers to tell a real painting from a fake. Sophie found that the artist painted to the edge of the canvas, but a forger wouldn't be able to get what was beyond the frame. Alice opened the frame and found that she had the original Maria Kreyn painting and the one in the museum was fake. Working on a hunch, Alice also had Sophie look into obituaries. Sophie showed her the obituary for Michael Thorne and believed Ben would use it as his next alias. Jeffrey Bloom Jeffrey hired Anderson/Vaughan Investigations after he was accused of murdering his first wife, Edith Rockwell. He'd been acquitted of the charges, but only after key evidence was thrown out. Alice believed he was guilty despite the ruling. His new wife, Rebecca Bloom, a journalist who had interviewed him during his trial, initially also believed he was guilty, but after a while, she started to believe he was innocent. She worked tirelessly to get him freed, but after the acquittal, they were being constantly harassed, so they hired Alice in order to find the real killer. They found that Payton, Edith's son, had been investigated, but had an alibi. They checked his alibi, but he refused to talk to anyone. AVI decided to start a completely new investigation. They started at Jeffrey and Edith's house, the scene of the crime, where he gave them a tour and told them about the murder. Her son, Payton, had been cut out of Edith's will because he'd started going down the wrong path. Payton then threatened Edith. Before they left the house, Danny stole Payton's tablet, which contained pictures of him kissing his alibi, leading them to suspect she had lied to cover for him. They continued looking for Edith's jewels, believing it would lead them to the real killer. Danny found the property in the photos on Payton's tablet and the searched there. Alice found them there, which made her change her mind and believe Payton had killed Edith. Alice went to the house, not wanting Payton to get away, and found Jeffrey there. While they were talking, she noticed he had sand in his shoes and figured out he'd put the jewels out by the beach house. He knew he couldn't be tried again for the murder and said he'd have to murder someone else. Before anything could happen, Rebecca came in and Jeffrey said Alice was leaving. Alice left and as she walked out, she heard a fight inside the house. She went back inside to find Jeffrey bleeding at the bottom of the stairs and Rebecca at the top. Rebecca now knew that Jeffrey had killed Edith for her money. She regretted sacrificing her career and everything else for him. Valerie later told Alice Rebecca would be claiming self-defense. Jewelry Store Customers Ben picked the pockets of several jewelry store customers in order to make enough money to pay their benefactor. Qasim Halabi Margot (Stella Winters) and Reggie (Joseph Riley) planned a con on Qasim Halabi, the guardian of Zara Al-Salim, a grieving princess. Zara had grown tired of LA and so they wanted to follow her to New York, but Ben wanted to try to convince her to stay in LA. While Reggie was distracted talking to Qasim, Ben, who wasn't supposed to be involved in the con, talked Zara into his classic car and allowed her to drive it away. The next day, he told her he was Michael Thorne, using a name from an obituary he'd just read. Music "Waving Wild" - Arum Rae "Feel Good" - Urban Mystic "Rumble And Sway" - Jamie N Commons "Right Where I Want You" - Selah Sue Notes and Trivia *This episode scored 5.07 million viewers. *'Goof:' Shaving cream disappears from Benjamin's face when Margot is shaving him. *'Goof:' In the obituaries shown at the end of the episode, the obituary to the left of "Michael Thorne" for Jason Schnitzer has multiple typos. For example, it changes the possessive pronoun, saying, "Jason donated generously and often held private screenings...in HER uptown apartment." One area the word "woife." Also, the material in the first and second paragraphs repeat themselves. Gallery Promotional Stills 1x02-1.jpg 1x02-2.jpg 1x02-3.jpg 1x02-4.jpg 1x02-5.jpg 1x02-6.jpg 1x02-7.jpg 1x02-8.jpg 1x02-9.jpg 1x02-10.jpg 1x02-11.jpg 1x02-12.jpg 1x02-13.jpg 1x02-14.jpg 1x02-15.jpg 1x02-16.jpg 1x02-17.jpg 1x02-18.jpg 1x02-19.jpg 1x02-20.jpg 1x02-21.jpg 1x02-22.jpg 1x02-23.jpg 1x02-24.jpg 1x02-25.jpg 1x02-26.jpg 1x02-27.jpg 1x02-28.jpg 1x02-29.jpg 1x02-30.jpg 1x02-31.jpg 1x02-32.jpg 1x02-33.jpg 1x02-34.jpg 1x02-35.jpg 1x02-36.jpg 1x02-37.jpg 1x02-38.jpg 1x02-39.jpg 1x02-40.jpg Behind the Scenes 1x02BTS1.jpg 1x02BTS2.jpg 1x02BTS3.jpg 1x02BTS4.jpg Quotes :Alice: I think we need to talk to Payton. And that you need to talk to Gordon. :Valerie: Which is why I hired a mediator. So we can talk. His failure to show up means that he has nothing to say. :Alice: Maybe he was stuck in court. :Valerie: Or in someone else's vagina. ---- :Jules: I come in peace. :Alice: I'm glad. Now, please, go in peace. ---- :Zara: I probably should have told you this yesterday, but it tends to, uh, complicate things. I'm kind of a princess. :Ben: Yeah, we can all be a little high maintenance. :Zara: No, I mean as in "my father was king." And I am Princess Zara Al-Salim of Kuroq. ---- :Ben: How does a woman who isn't allowed to drive drive like a NASCAR champion? :Zara: My father taught me. He just never let me drive the Healey. :Ben: He wasn't worried about you and sin? :Zara: Only to know how to drive away from it as quickly as possible. ---- :Ben: Reggie, what are you doing? :Reggie: You are getting on that plane if I have to fold you down to travel size and check you in as baggage. :Ben: I'm going. I'm leaving right now. :Reggie: When? Right after you run across the street and apologize to her for ruining her life? You think she's gonna forgive you? Ben, she's gonna stab you in the chest with a car key. ---- :Alice: He could have left, killed her, had dinner, and still been back in time to sleep through act three. :Sophie: But what about their love story? :Alice: Between Jeffrey and Edith or between Jeffrey and the $40 million Edith left him in her will? See Also Category:Episodes Category:Season One Episodes